


back when i was livin' for the hope of it all

by santiagoswagger



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: B99 Summer 2020 Fic Exchange, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, detectives santiago and peralta take coney island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/santiagoswagger/pseuds/santiagoswagger
Summary: When a case takes them to Coney Island early in their partnership, Jake manages to convince Amy to let her hair down a little.
Relationships: Jake Peralta & Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44
Collections: Summer 2020 Fic Exchange





	back when i was livin' for the hope of it all

**Author's Note:**

> For @sentientcyclopedia for the B99 Summer Fic Exchange! I hope you love it!
> 
> Title from "August" by Taylor Swift.

She steps out of the car and immediately moves to shield her eyes from the glaring sun. 

“Ugh,” she winces. “I can’t believe this is where our witness works.” 

Jake shuts his car door and gasps in mock outrage. “Santiago, this is the best day of my life! I finally get to work a case at Coney Island and you will _not_ ruin this for me.” 

Amy rolls her eyes in return. “Peralta, we’re here to interview a robbery witness, not ride roller coasters.” 

Jake smirks. “We’ll see about that, Detective.” 

The bickering doesn’t stop on their way to interview their witness, but that’s nothing new for Detectives Santiago and Peralta. In Amy’s first few months at the Nine-Nine, Jake’s proven to be a pretty sharp thorn in her side. He finds every opportunity to undercut her or tease her for being such a stickler with rules. It’s always in the form of a joke but Amy can tell there’s an edge to his humor. It’s hard being the newest detective, and he doesn’t make it any easier on her. Not that she would ever let him know just how much it gets to her sometimes - she would never give him the satisfaction. 

The witness - a ride attendant at the wonder wheel - proves to be extremely helpful for their case and Jake and Amy finish the interview in less than 15 minutes. 

As they start to head back to the car and the fluorescent lights of the precinct, Amy adjusts her sunglasses and says, “Well, I guess I can check Coney Island off of my New York City bucket list now.” 

Jake whips his head around to stare wide-eyed at her, his curly hair swept to the side by the beachside breeze. “Are you kidding me? You’ve never been to Coney Island before?”

Amy shakes her head. “No way. Too many tourists. Plus, I grew up in New Jersey and we went to the shore every summer. I figured I’d seen enough boardwalks to last a lifetime.” 

Jake steps in front of her, blocking her path. “Oh, Santiago. There’s no boardwalk like the Coney Island boardwalk. Gina and I used to hang out here with our friends like every day in the summer growing up. It’s one of the coolest places in Brooklyn.” 

Amy frowns. “I think the hipsters in Bushwick might have something to say about that.” 

Jake waves his hand in the air. “They suck, who cares? What matters is that I’m about to show you what Coney Island in the summer is all about.” 

“Jake!” Amy scolds. “We told the captain we’d be back as soon as we spoke with the witness so we could get started on paperwork. This case should be our first priority.” 

“It is!” Jake says, grinning. “We’re just taking a little detour. I want to see Fun Santiago and then we can go back to the precinct.” 

“I’m plenty fun,” Amy says defiantly. “I bought a neon-colored pack of post-its the other day.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that,” Jake says, already walking towards the ticket counter. 

Amy stands there for a second, unsure. Her professionalism usually wins out in situations like this, but there’s something about the salty sea air and the sounds of laughter that are pulling her in. Jake’s enthusiasm is infectious, as much as she hates to admit it. Plus, McGintley was perhaps the worst captain in the NYPD, so impressing him wasn’t high on her list at this new job. She follows Jake, albeit a bit reluctantly. 

An hour later, Amy’s laughing harder than she’s laughed in weeks and small tendrils of hair have come loose from her usually perfect ponytail. They’ve been on all the big rides at least once and have moved on to the games - her specialty. 

Jake groans in frustration as his plastic ring misses the bottle for the fifth time in a row. He throws his hands up in the air. “I give up,” he declares. “This game is impossible. It’s probably rigged.”

Amy snorts. “It’s not rigged, you idiot. Your technique just sucks.” 

She takes his last ring from him and he surprisingly lets her. She looks up at him and he has a single eyebrow raised, a faint twinkle in his eye. “Oh, really? And you’re gonna show me the right way to do it? 

“Damn right I am,” she says. “It’s all in the wrist, Peralta. And _don’t_ even think about saying it.”

He stifles a laugh as he swallows down a sextape joke. 

Amy doesn’t give herself the time to relish in his defeat. She concentrates on her target, flicks her wrist and lets the ring go. It lands exactly where she wanted it to, on a glass bottle in the front row. 

“Woah,” Jake says, sounding genuinely awed. “I take back every mean thing I’ve ever said about you, Santiago. You’re a carnival game genius.” 

“Did you just call me a genius?” she asks, touched. This is the most headway she’s gotten with Jake since her first day. 

“Don’t get used to it,” he smirks. 

She picks out her prize - a small stuffed tiger - and turns to look at her partner. “We should probably head back. I bet McGintley is furious we’ve been gone this long in the middle of a shift.” 

Jake stares back skeptically. “You’re kidding, right? I caught him watching cartoons in his office last week. Besides, we finished the interview way early and it’s against the law to leave Coney Island without going to the beach.” 

Amy rolls her eyes but checks her watch to do a quick calculation. “Fine,” she says hesitantly. “But only for 10 minutes and then we head straight back to the precinct.” 

“Deal,” Jake says, holding out his hand to shake hers. She moves to shake it but he takes it away quickly. “Too late, let’s go!” 

They get ice cream cones and head to the beach, Amy in her heeled work boots and pantsuit, Jake in his hoodie and sneakers. They navigate the crowds and eat their ice cream in silence. 

“So, why don’t you like boardwalks or amusement parks?” Jake asks. “Please tell me there’s a traumatic childhood story.”

She sighs. “My older brother David got a job at the Seaside Heights boardwalk the summer before his junior year of high school. He was just operating the carousel but my parents went on and on about his ‘entrepreneurial spirit.’” 

She looks at Jake, who’s surprisingly not laughing. He’s listening intently, eyes focused on her. “He and I don’t really get along,” she explains.

He nods. “He sounds like an asshat.” 

Amy laughs. “He kind of is.” 

The silence returns, but this one is a little more comfortable. Amy actually feels like she’s hanging out with a friend instead of her workplace nemesis. 

“My dad took me to Coney Island once when I was a kid,” Jake offers. Amy turns to look at him but he’s staring at the ocean instead. 

“Is that why you love it so much?” she asks. 

He shrugs. “Maybe. He wasn’t the greatest dad in the world, but that was a good day.” 

She nods, smiling slightly. “It’s not all bad.” 

He smiles back. “Yeah, I think so too.”

As they head back to the car, the sand crunching beneath their feet with every step, Amy thinks that Coney Island isn’t the only thing that’s surprised her today.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @santiagoswagger!


End file.
